Mid-November Update (3 of 3) - The Road to Taos

Hamilton to Taos. 1,813-miles. A "breeze" compared to the 1,932-miles from Breckenridge to Monterey, MA by myself (well, with Grumpus). This time Maureen and I would split the driving. Actually, she did most of it Day 1 & Day 2 while I worked

We loaded up Grumpus, who was as pleased as usual. Best we can tell these long drives appear to be the same as confinement to a prison on wheels



First state on Day 1 was Michigan. We also crossed Indiana and Illinois, but both were at night and the pics turned out poorly. So 2x through and still unable to get Illinois (got Indiana first time)



There really wasn't much of note that first day, much of it in Michigan before a stretch in Indiana and a longer stretch in Illinois. Dinner for me was 3 chocolate bars, mozzarella and chocolate milk. We stayed at a Drury Inn in Springfield along with dozens of police, in town for a convention, so we felt pretty safe and had a solid sleep

Illinois along I-55S wasn't much more scenic the next morning. St. Louis, though, offered some great pics including the Gateway Arch, the Mississippi, and The Scottrade Center where the St Louis Blues play













Missouri was a pretty wooded state. Lunch was at Cracker Barrel, where they had a smoking section. Wow

Next up was Oklahoma. Nothing exciting, similar to driving through Nebraska. Perhaps a slight upgrade



Billboards were the highlight of Oklahoma and both political parties were represented

First, the Republicans:





And then the Democrats:



Dinner was at The Waffle House. A Grilled Cheese and an Egg & Cheese Biscuit sandwich with hasbrowns for me and a Cheeseburger for Maureen. $8.34. I think we could retire today and live in opulence in Oklahoma. And it was fantastic

We were going to try and make it to Amarillo on Day 2 but no luck. At 11:00pm CST we wore out and checked into a Comfort Inn somewhere. Slept fantastic

Next up was Texas. Being Saturday and no work I started off driving



Northern Texas was fascinating. First we saw what was billed as the Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere (with RV Parking)





It didn't seem THAT big...but there was more fun ahead...



Including the best billboards yet









But the best highlight of the trip...the Cadillac Ranch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch)







Final destination: New Mexico



It reminded us of parts of Utah









The march to an early death continued with the final meal from the road: Taste of India at an old truck stop. I had my usual - Matar Paneer. Maureen "skipped" and bought cheese & crackers



We made it to our house just in time and wisely bought chains as the snow started just as we arrived. Here are pics of the view the next morning





So back to running after a week of vices and unhealthy food. Me and The Hud (Grumpus is only found in the car) left for an early morning run. We are above 7,000 feet and maybe 10-miles outside of Taos in heavily wooded mountains. Bears and cougars are supposedly everywhere and apparently this is true, as we saw this coming up our long driveway



Needless to say...it was an uptempo run

We are here for two weeks...